Teefury

It's good old Rorschach, his mask displaying an actually decodable QR code instead of the usual inkblots. Whereas the original Rorschach inkblot test requires imagination to interpret the pattern, this one requires a smart phone (or any QR-reading device for that matter). Guess that's what they call 'zeitgeist'. I had various hidden messages on my shortlist, but the simple yet very Roschach-esque "Hurm ..."  finally made it. I thought it to be funny, mainly because that's what the character murmurs when he actually doesn't want to speak at all. A counter punchline, so to speak. The idea came to me when I -nearly bored to death and back at work- scribbled Rorschach's hat onto some random QR code on a postcard I found on my desk.

I now live in Leipzig, Germany, but I was born and raised in a small town near Dresden.

That I'm currently working on my very own graphic novel '01 <--that's the name ... so, if they ever come across a comic book by that name, they should know: I wrote and inked that with heart's blood (and ink, of course), it's totally worth reading.

That I don't even own a copy of Watchmen anymore. It somehow went missing years ago ... hopefully my shirt sells well enough so I can at least effort another copy.

Music! I. Love. Music. I'm a pretty eclectic listener, I will lend my ear to anything from relaxing ambient to noisy grindcore as long as it's progressive and clever enough. Let's see ... then there's literature. And graphic arts, obviously. And Britcoms ... I dearly love Blackadder, IT-Crowd, Black Books, Boosh, that kind of stuff. The way I see it, Brits are the funniest people on earth.

Pencil drawings. Me and my grandfather used to spend endless weekends and holiday afternoons scribbling away in the dining room. I still have one particularly crummy drawing of Falkor from The Neverending Story in my drawer. He looks like a rabid dog without legs ... but the fun we had *sigh*

It connects two of my passions: graphics arts and literature. There's nothing like a clever story told via breathtaking illustration. Comic panels offer narrative techniques that are not possible in any other medium. Even though I prefer more "serious"  stuff like Craig Thompson's "Blankets" or Charles Burns' "Black Hole" over super heroes, there are exceptions. Alan Moore for example ... and as far as the funny pages go: Nick Gurewitch's 'Terry Bible Fellowship' and Gary Larson's 'Far Side' were and always will be outstanding cultural achievements.

That's a tough one ... I guess it all boils down to an end fight between The Man in Black (blows smoke) vs. The Man in Blue (blows hard). And let's face it: LOST lost its appeal during the final season, whereas Arrested Development's development got arrested for being way too awesome for normal television. So it's Bluth Company all the way!

My favourite shirt is a band shirt designed by Neil Burke for The Locust. Bought it at one of their shows in 2007. The artwork is called 'Treatment' and is also featured on their 10mins EP 'Safety Second, Body Last'. Just google that to actually see the artwork, it's really hard to describe. It is kinda abstract, yet very disturbing. I love it because it's one of the rare band merch shirts without any name or logo on it, it only features Burke's artwork. Plus it always reminds of how unutterably amazing that show was ... these guys sure know how to leave a crowd stunned when they finally walk off the stage.

I rarely play computer games these days (but, truth be told, I spent most of my teens doing so), and I really enjoy a good movie ... but I'd have to go with reading. Books touch parts of my soul other media has no access to. I studied English literature, I have a book in my pocket wherever I go, and I'm writing my own book now ... all because I love literature so much. My favourite would be David Mitchell's 'Cloud Atlas', took me places I didn't even know exist.

A mixture of all the things I absorb during the day and the things I dream at night. Then I throw in some stuff I always wanted to try out, and see where the artwork itself takes me. Letting go should be part of any creative process I guess ... just let the artwork go where it wants to go for a bit. Hop on, and you're along for an interesting ride.

Yes, sure. Thanks to GrandeB & crank'n'further for getting me in touch with the magic of QR codes in the first place. Also thanks to Jackpot77 here on teefury for helping me testing and tweaking the code.

Also: Go Team Venture!